Global Development Network Vacancy: Impact Evaluation Specialist 2014 - Delhi, India

International Initiative for Impact Evaluation

Terms of Reference

Evaluation Specialist for 3ie’s Humanitarian Interventions Thematic Window

I. Background

The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) seeks to improve the lives of poor people in low and middle-income countries by providing and summarizing evidence of which development interventions work, when, why, and for how much. 3ie operates several grant programs to finance high-quality impact evaluations of policies and programs in these countries, where high-quality impact evaluations are those that measure the net change in outcomes that can be attributed to a specific program. Further, 3ie produces, funds, and disseminates systematic reviews of impact evaluations on development policies and programs. Systematic reviews are designed to make the evidence even more accessible and useful to policy makers. 3ie also supports quality impact evaluation through its quality assurance services.

3ie is registered as a non-governmental organization in the United States of America. 3ie is operating as a program of the Global Development Network (GDN) in New Delhi, India. The GDN-3ie program in Delhi office houses the Evaluation Office, the Program Office, the Policy Advocacy and Communications Office, Finance, Reporting and Administrative office. The Delhi office hosts a monthly impact evaluation seminar series with presenters and participants from academe, the government, and the donor community. Staff in the Evaluation Office liaise with donors around the world and interact frequently with impact evaluation experts and specialists and academia.

Humanitarian aid, particularly in conflict affected and fragile states, where the provision of basic services has failed and infrastructure is weak or non-existent, presents considerable challenges for impact evaluation. There is little or poor data, constant and prolonged displacement of populations and the outcomes and timeframes for determining impact are hard to define. Measurement of impact is in addition severely constrained by practical as well as methodological issues. Nonetheless, the questions asked of development interventions are equally critical for building robust evidence about the effectiveness of humanitarian programmes given the size of annual humanitarian appeals and the cumulative effects of chronic and severe crises globally on the lives of people caught up in such crises.

II. Overview of Humanitarian Thematic Window

The Humanitarian Thematic Window aims to improve the quality and durability of outcomes resulting from humanitarian assistance including improved recovery and resilience efforts. This overall objective is to be achieved through the following intermediate objectives:

1. Increasing the evidence base of what works, why and at what cost in the field of humanitarian aid, with a focus on learning about innovative approaches.
2. Generating lessons learned through the synthesis of high quality evidence on implementation and effectiveness.
3. Building capacity of implementing agencies and of common pooled funding bodies to produce and use evidence from high quality impact evaluations and reviews.
4. Ensuring that evidence is available to policy makers in policy-friendly formats.

As part of 3ie’s program in humanitarian assistance and disaster, there are other sub-initiatives that 3ie has ongoing activities in. These include a small initiative on impact evaluations of food security programmes in humanitarian contexts, another that focuses on impact evaluations in DRC and still another that aims to put together off-the-shelf designs for impact evaluations in these contexts.

Usually 3ie awards grants for impact evaluations of humanitarian crisis interventions in where humanitarian interventions take place in two phases:

1. Preparation grants: Preparation grants are awarded to teams that work implementing partners in DRC in developing impact evaluation proposals. Each study team receives a preparation grant and will have the choice and budget to prepare up to three impact evaluation proposals. During this phase the evaluation specialist plays a supportive role to ensure that teams chosen to work on these preparation grants produce high quality technical proposals.
2. Impact evaluation grants: If teams receive grants for full impact evaluations, the evaluation specialist works closely with the grants to ensure high quality of evaluations and works closely with colleagues to ensure timeliness of delivery and disbursements.

III. Position summary

To support the Humanitarian Intervention Thematic Window, 3ie seeks an evaluation specialist who will work at the Delhi office of 3ie and support the head of evaluation in managing the thematic window, raising funds, managing donor relationships and engage closely with grantees while also being involved in capacity building activities.

Essential functions

The Evaluation specialist will be responsible for:

• Working with potential grantees to develop high quality technical proposals of humanitarian assistance in DRC and possibly Jordan, Syria and the middle east including other humanitarian contexts. Technical proposals will meet 3ie criteria and standards for impact evaluations as discussed with the head of evaluation, 3ie. He/she will also undertake travel for this work as required and requested.
• Will help manage grants selection processes and makes funding recommendations to senior management.
• Will serve as internal reviewer for studies being conducted under the HITW and other 3ie grants programs. Will visits and monitor implementation sites of programs evaluated under the Humanitarian Interventions thematic window.
• Communicates directly with 3ie-funded researchers as well as impact evaluation experts who serve as reviewers, external project advisors, and other eventually implementing agencies.
• Aids in organizing conferences and workshops;
• Travels for workshops, conferences, and consultations related to 3ie’s HITW programs.
• Represent 3ie at conferences and other events as requested including engaging with partners, policy makers, researchers and donors.
• Conducts other tasks including supporting other windows as requested.
• Liaises with other GDN-3ie staff as necessary to complete the above tasks; and
• Contributes to advocacy and communications materials, such as policy briefs, blogs for the 3ie website, among other tasks.

IV. Qualifications

• The candidate is required to have completed a Master’s degree with at least four years of post-Master’s relevant work experience. A doctoral degree with some work experience is preferred. His/her academic training should be in economics, public health, agronomy, nutrition, or other field relevant to international development.
• Research experience and emerging publication record in experimental and quasi-experimental methods of rigorous impact evaluation is required.
• Knowledge of humanitarian contexts in low- and middle-income countries and related academic literature and debates is desirable;
• Previous program management experience and engagement with donors is strongly preferred;
• Excellent writing skills in English are required. Ability to work and write in French is highly desired.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently.

V. Terms

This is an internationally advertised position. The evaluation specialist will be a member of its Evaluation Office. He/she will report the Deputy Executive Director and Head of Evaluation. Candidates should be available to start by 1st of September 2014. Salaries will be commensurate with qualifications and salary history within the applicable salary scale of the GDN-3ie office. The appointment is for two years and renewable thereafter depending on availability of project funding. 3ie reserves the right to hire at a level below this one if no suitable candidate is found.

The position includes in discussion with your supervisor and with approval especially regarding fit of proposed activities with current job description:

• Travel and registration for 2 international conferences a year, conditional on having a paper accepted;
• Professional development opportunities, such as relevant courses or collaborative research with leading impact evaluation experts, generally conditional upon the Evaluation Specialist’s initiative in finding and/or creating such opportunities, and/or participating in impact evaluations being undertaken internally.
• Working one week a year at the 3ie Washington or London offices (conditional on ability to obtain the necessary visas);

VI. Application

Send cover letter, CV, three reference letters, and one or two written research sample that demonstrate your experience in impact evaluations to jobs@3ieimpact.org  and dhoundolo@3ieimpact.org  with "Impact Evaluation Specialist 2014, Delhi” as the subject line.

Applications received by 1st August 2014 will be given priority. Applications received after this date will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Only suitable candidates will be contacted for interview.

Email for Applications: jobs@3ieimpact.org  

Informational: URL:http://www.3ieimpact.org

For more information, email: dhoundolo@3ieimpact.org

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